Regenerative Neurogenesis in Echinoderms

成体棘皮动物的再生神经发生。再生过程对于修复和替换丢失的组织和器官至关重要。在脊索动物和其他动物群体中，神经系统被认为几乎是不可替代的；创伤后失去的神经元不能被替换，神经纤维的功能重新连接有限。本项目采用一种新的实验系统，海参，棘皮动物门的一员，来探索神经系统的再生。棘皮动物虽然是无脊椎动物，但与脊椎动物关系密切，并且具有非凡的再生能力。该项目旨在研究消化道内神经系统的再生以及与此过程相关的细胞分裂和分化。它还探讨了主要棘皮神经组织成分的再生能力，以确定细胞和纤维的再生是否构成棘皮组织的一般事件。最后，它研究了在再生和胚胎器官发生中重要的基因的表达及其在神经系统再生中的表达。我们的实验结果将通过从棘皮动物这一关键生物群体中获取信息来推进对神经元再生的理解，在棘皮动物中，再生是一种自然的规律事件。神经再生研究是我们总体目标的一部分，即理解构成神经系统的细胞是如何产生的，以及它们是如何分化和组装成一个功能器官的。

Regenerative neurogenesis in adult echinoderms. Regeneration processes are of vital importance to repair and replace lost tissues and organs. In chordates and other animals groups, the nervous system is considered almost irreplaceable; neurons that are lost after trauma cannot be replaced and there is a limited functional reconnection of nerve fibers. This project uses a new experimental system, the sea cucumber, a member of the phylum Echinodermata, to explore the regeneration of the nervous system. Echinoderms, although invertebrate animals are closely related to the vertebrates, and posses an extraordinary regeneration capacity. The project aims to study the regeneration of the nervous system within the digestive tract and the cellular division and differentiation associated with this process. It also explores the regeneration capacities of the main echinoderm nervous tissue components to determine if the regeneration of cells and fibers constitute a general event in echinoderm tissues. Finally, it studies the expression of genes, known to be important in regenerative and embryological organogenesis, and their expression during nervous system regeneration. Results from our experiments will advance the understanding of neuronal regeneration by obtaining information from a key group of organisms, echinoderms, where regeneration is a natural regular event. The proposed work on nervous regeneration is part of our overall goal of understanding the process by which the cells that make up the nervous system are generated, and how they differentiate and assemble into a functional organ.